Category Archives: Low Interest Rates

Post navigation

If you know someone who recently bought a home using the FHA program please pass me their information (with their permission of course) and I’ll be happy to get them a lower interest rate and lower payments.

It’s a great time to get qualified for a purchase loan as well. Today’s low interest rates will make new home purchases affordable and the tax credit help too.

Call me for more information on the $8,000 federal tax credit and $10,000 state tax credit for first time home buyers. This month’s newsletter talks about getting bigger tax refunds for this year as well!

**If you’d like to get an updated quote on your homeowners insurance I know a guy that can save you hundreds of dollars a year!!** Call Sean for details at 760-837-1488

Market Update:Rates continue to be volatile, but are still at historically low levels.Check out my 4.125% – 5 year Fixed money – LOW!! The rate sheet is attached.

Conforming & FHA Loan limits have been increased to 500K for the rest of 2009. The bad news is that these agency jumbo loans are not yet available in the market place. So we don’t know the pricing or stipulations yet, but I will update you with more as it unravels.

FHA & VA has also just raised its minimum fico score requirement to 620, yes that’s correct. Any loan’s currently in the system must be approved soon, to be grandfathered in.

***If I have given you a pre-qualification please get with me to verify FICO scores.***If you have a loan in process and the interest rate was not been locked, they will need to be locked by March 7th to be eligible.Please let your friends and clients know!

There have been recent rumors of interest rates being brought down towards 4.5% by the Treasury. Rates are not going to 4.5% with the wave of a wand by Hank Paulson or Ben Bernanke. As a matter of fact, the massive borrowing to fund the TARP program has a negative effect on rates. This irresponsible release included no definitive plan, no indication of who might qualify, or what the restrictions would be. Remember, it may make sense for you to act now, and take advantage of current historically low rates…with the possibility of refinancing should rates decline further. Waiting for rates to fall to 4.5% may leave people sorely disappointed.

“THOSE WHO CAN SOAR TO THE HIGHEST HEIGHTS CAN ALSO PLUNGE TO THE DEEPEST DEPTHS.” Lucy Maud Montgomery. Despite all of the government’s efforts, markets here and around the world plunged this week as the financial crisis continues to grow.

On Tuesday, the Fed and Treasury Department announced plans to purchase short-term commercial paper that many companies rely on to finance their day-to-day operations, to help businesses with their short-term credit and funding needs. The government hoped this announcement would help ease uncertainty, restore confidence, and give Stocks a boost. They hoped for a similar result on Wednesday when the Federal Reserve cut the Fed Funds Rate by 50 basis points, and coordinated an emergency global interest rate cut with the European Central Bank, Canada, the UK, Switzerland and Sweden. The Central Banks in Asia followed suit and cut their benchmark interest rates overnight as well.

However, on Thursday, Stocks plummeted nearly 700 points to a five-year low, and on Friday Stocks ended the day another 126 points lower (after plunging 500 points three times throughout the day). Bonds and home loan rates also worsened sharply in the second part of the week, as Bonds dropped below several important floors of support, and home loan rates ended the week .50% higher than where they began.

From a historical perspective, we are in the midst of a brutal bear market that began on October 9th 2007. Remember that a decline of 20% constitutes a bear market…and a 10% decline is a “correction.” The last bear market occurred between March 24th of 2000 and October 9th 2002 saw a 49% drop. Overall, the average bear market lasts for 12.3 months, with the average decline being 32%. The current bear market is right in line with the average historical time frames, and the extent of the decline is worse than previous bear market averages, but still slightly better than the bottom made in 2002. So the historical data might suggest that we could be nearing a bottom. I will continue to monitor this situation closely, and let you know how this will impact home loan rates in the weeks and months ahead. One bright spot is that oil prices are also plunging, falling from a high of $147 per barrel last July to around $80 per barrel Friday morning…which at least makes a tr ip to fill up at the gas station slightly less painful.

PLUNGING PORTFOLIOS ARE SOMETHING WE NEVER WANT TO SEE HAPPEN, AND NEITHER ARE PLUNGING SAVINGS ACCOUNTS. CHECK OUT THIS WEEK’S MORTGAGE MARKET VIEW FOR SOME GREAT TIPS ON STAYING WITHIN YOUR BUDGET!

Forecast for the Week

Last week was a volatile one despite the lack of scheduled economic reports, and this week several big pending reports could add to the volatility…even with the markets being closed on Monday in observance of Columbus Day. Wednesday will bring the wholesale inflation measuring Producer Price Index and the Retail Sales report for September. The Retail Sales report is a measure of the total receipts of retail stores, and changes in these numbers are closely followed as a timely indicator of broad consumer spending patterns. It will be especially important to see what kind of impact the financial crisis has had on recent spending trends.

More inflation news will follow on Thursday, as September’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) report, which gives a read on inflation at the consumer level, will be released. CPI tells us how much more expensive goods and services are this month over last month, and this widely watched inflation indicator will definitely make headlines. And given what’s been happening in the markets, it will be important to note what’s happening in the housing sector, which Friday’s Housing Starts and Building Permits Report for September will reveal.

Remember when Bond prices move higher, home loan rates move lower…and vice versa. As you can see in the chart below, Bonds and home loan rates worsened this week, due to a variety of factors. I will be watching closely to see if Bonds and home loan rates can change direction.

Wow another great – shortened week! I know you are getting busy out there! Let me know what I can do to help. Make it a great weekend!

Market Update

The Jobs Report for August came in this morning at 84,000 jobs lost. But the real buzz in trading is the swelling unemployment rate, which jumped from 5.7% to 6.1%. This marks the highest unemployment rate since September 2003.

Mortgage pricing has been on a rally for the past several days and looks like it’s about to turn the other way. It’ll interesting to see what happens next week! Stay tuned!

Happy Friday! Please don’t forget to RSVP for the event on Monday morning at 8:30am. RSVP at http://www.DesertFHA.com The flyer is attached. Thank you if you’ve already RSVPed. I’ve got your seat reserved.

Market Update

New Home sales for June were reported at 530,000–which was far better than expectations of 505,000. In addition, Orders for Durable Goods came in well above expectations and the Consumer Sentiment Index shocked the markets with a very robust reading.

The positive readings are helping to strengthen the US Dollar and even lower Oil prices. As a result of these shifts, a Fed rate hike may be on its way in within the next few months–though probably not at next week’s Fed meeting.

Rates have certainly been busy moving up and down, but no worries! This is just part of the market. Rates don’t typically move this much, but in this market anything can happen. Remember what goes up must go down and it’s all part of the market game. Stay tuned for more information.

· Wednesday the Fed has a meeting schedule and from what I understand there is a 75% chance the Fed will cut another 0.25% to the Fed funds rate· Interest rates are down by about 0.125% this week when compared to last week· Your client should float at least until Monday or Tuesday because rates are usually get a little better right before the Fed meeting

Make it a great weekend! Oh by the way, I’m NEVER too busy for any of your referrals.